Almost Here
by Rietta
Summary: AU. Jack's working nights, Ianto's getting stressed and Tosh is having nightmares again. With Gwen and Owen playing up too, can peace reassert itself in the Harkness-Jones household before disaster strikes?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer- I do not have the pleasure of owning Torchwood. If I did, there would be less aliens and more beautiful Welsh vowels. As you can tell by the aliens, the BBC has the honour of owning the show. And also Doctor Who, from whence many of the characters in this fic are also borrowed.**

**Spoilers- Lets say seasons 1 & 2 to be on the safe side**

**Rating- T**

**Synopsis- AU. Jack's working nights, Ianto's getting stressed, and Tosh is having nightmares again. With Gwen and Owen playing up too, can peace reassert itself in the Harkness-Jones household before disaster strikes?**

**General Notes- AU: the aliens only come out at night; and Torchwood is merely the name of a house. Idea came from nowhere; title is stolen from a Delta Goodrem song which may or may not be connected. My first Torchwood fanfic, so please be nice! Constructive criticism is always welcomed. And don't kill me for the wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff *g***

**Chapter Notes- N/A**

**-**

**Chapter 1**

At 1:30am on an ordinary Tuesday morning, Ianto Jones was peacefully asleep and dreaming. At 1:31am, he was rudely awakened to an unpleasantly empty bed by the sounds of screaming from one side and muttered curses from the other. Making a mental note to scold Gwen for her language in the morning, he closed his eyes again wearily.

"Jack, you're daughter's off again," he murmured out of habit. Somewhat predictably, the empty air made no reply. Sighing, the Welshman reached for his dressing gown and headed for the room next door, snapping on the lights as he went.

"Tosh?"

The wild-eyed child sat stiffly upright in bed made no reply other than to continue screaming. Carefully, Ianto made his was over to the bed and sat down beside her, laying a tender hand on her shoulder.

"Toshiko? Wake up, honey, it's ok, you're safe. I've got you. Shh now, shh. Wake up."

His tones were soothing, and coupled with his gentle touch they soon drew Toshiko back to reality, blinking her pretty eyes at the unaccustomed light.

"Daddy?" she questioned in a whisper as her eyes adjusted, and Ianto steeled himself to disappoint her yet again.

"No, honey, it's Ianto."

"Oh."

The small sound tore at Ianto's heart, but he tried not to let it show as he eased Tosh back down to lie against the pillows. Keeping one arm around her shoulders, he tucked her back in with the other hand.

"Were you dreaming again?" he asked softly. It was a fairly redundant question, since she had woken screaming, but it always seemed to help her, so Ianto always asked.

Tosh nodded, relaxing against his arm.

"Aliens again?" Ianto questioned sympathetically, and Tosh nodded again.

"More adventures from the top secret underground base?"

Another nod.

"You know, I think these things are always better discussed over cocoa. Want to go and make some?" Ianto suggested, as per usual; and Tosh smiled.

"Yes please."

"Right then, miss, where's your dressing gown?" he asked, glancing around the room. "Your father would kill me if I let you go wandering around the house at all hours of the morning in only your pyjamas."

"It's on the back of the door, silly!" Tosh giggled. It always amused her how Ianto pretended to forget where the garment was each night. Hopping out of bed, she crossed over to the door and tugged the article in question on. Ianto smiled.

"Much better. Come on then, but remember to tiptoe- we don't want to wake your siblings up."

Realistically, Ianto knew that both Gwen and Owen would be awake already; but Tosh wasn't to know that and he didn't want to upset her further- besides which, she always enjoyed the game of creeping downstairs to make cocoa.

Downstairs, she huddled up at the table whilst Ianto made the cocoa swiftly with a practised hand. It hurt him to see her looking so small and vulnerable- in the daytime she always seemed so much older and wiser than her twelve years.

Pouring the piping hot liquid deftly into two mugs, he pushed one over the table at the young girl and grinned at her.

"So, tell me all about it- what horrible threat was menacing the gallant Captain Jack and his team this time?"

Tosh giggled- she loved it when Ianto referred to her father in such glorified terms.

"I dreamt that there were these… things- they looked like people, but they weren't really- anyway, these things that sort of sucked all the moisture out of your body and kept your last breath in a bottle. They came out of the film at an old cinema and started attacking everybody; and you and Daddy were trying to stop them but then they started chasing you and I was watching it all from the secret base and I was so scared that they were going to kill you too…"

Her little voice trailed off into silence, tears trickling down her cheeks; and Ianto reached over and shook her shoulder gently.

"Oh no, you woke up in the middle again!" he sighed. "You see, Tosh, in the bit of the dream you didn't quite reach, Daddy and I stole the flask back and gave everybody their last breath back- so everybody was ok in the end."

Tosh looked up at him half-gratefully, half-suspiciously through thick dark lashes heavy with unshed tears.

"Are you sure?"

Ianto nodded firmly. "Oh yes; that's exactly what happened."

"But what about the aliens?" Tosh whispered. Ianto chuckled.

"Oh, we dealt with those alright, Tosh. It was all your master plan which ended them, too," he smiled reassuringly.

"Really? How?" she asked surprised. Ianto suppressed a grin with difficulty- it always amused him that Tosh was always so astonished when he credited her with the solution with each dream problem, despite the fact that in her dreams the three children were all grown up.

"Oh, you just realised that because they came out of a film, we could capture them on a different film and expose it to the light," he replied casually, noting with satisfaction that Tosh suddenly looked really rather pleased with herself.

"Oh yes, of course, that makes perfect sense!" she exclaimed, draining her cocoa. Ianto smiled, emptying his own cup and putting both receptacles over by the dishwasher.

"Come on then, you," he murmured, reaching for her hand. "Time to go back to bed."

Tosh yawned and followed him with no objections. Once he had her tucked snugly back into bed, he reached for the light switch, pausing only to give her one last smile.

"Night, Tosh."

"Ianto? Thank you." Her gratitude was softly spoken, and Ianto stroked her hair absent-mindedly.

"No problem, sweetheart. Now don't worry- it all comes ok in the end."

Switching the light out, he suppressed a yawn of his own and headed back for his own room, frowning as he noticed the familiar bar of light showing underneath Owen's bedroom door. Sighing, he headed over and opened the door. As he expected, Owen was sat in the middle of the floor, playing doctor with his teddy bears. Hiding a smile at the sight with difficulty, Ianto attempted to look stern.

"Bedtime, Owen," he scolded, taking the bear from the boy's hands.

The nine-year-old scowled back, making a grab for the bear.

"But I'm not tired."

"I don't care. It's two o'clock in the morning, you need to go to bed."

Owen scowled again. "But you took Tosh downstairs and made her cocoa."

Ianto nodded levelly. "Yes, and I ignored the light under your door the last time I walked past. Which means that you've had your playtime- now it's bedtime again."

Owen shook his head. "That's not fair. I want cocoa too."

Ianto suppressed a sigh with difficulty. "No you don't, you just want an extra half-hour out of bed. The answer is no."

The child glared. "That's not fair."

"Life's not fair."

"I'll tell Daddy you were being mean to me." Owen made a grab for the bear again, but Ianto held it out of reach.

"Tell him what you like in the morning- right now you're getting into bed."

"You're not my Dad- you can't tell me what to do."

Ianto's patience was wearing thin. "Yes I can, Owen. Now get into bed this instant, or I'll confiscate your playstation again."

Defeated, Owen rose to his feet, knowing that Ianto meant precisely what he said. "Give me Bear."

"When you're in bed," Ianto replied levelly, diplomatically turning a blind eye to the kick the child aimed at his ankles. He didn't have the patience to argue about that now.

Once Owen was in bed, Ianto scooped the rest of the playthings off the floor and stuffed then in the pockets of his dressing gown, shooting Owen a warning glare as the nine-year-old opened his mouth to complain. Moving over to the bed, Ianto held Bear out to his owner, trying not to mind too much when the soft toy was snatched from between his fingers without so much as a word of thanks. Knowing that trying to tuck Owen in would be a step too far- not that he wanted to make the little brat comfortable anyway!- Ianto headed for the door and switched the light out.

"Goodnight, Owen."

The only reply was stony silence.

As he traipsed wearily back along the hall to his own bedroom, Ianto reflected with a wry smile that it was something of a relief that Gwen merely reacted to these episodes by swearing at Tosh and pulling the pillow over her head. If he had to deal with yet another half-hour of settling people back to sleep, he wasn't sure he'd be able to get up in a morning. There were times, he reflected with a scowl as he hung the dressing gown back on the door and slipped back into an icy-cold bed, that he hated Jack Harkness. There were times that he wished the damn man had never entered his life in the first place. There were times…

The rest of the thought slipped away from Ianto as his overtired brain relaxed into the welcome escape sleep offered.

**~ * ~ * ~**

"Ianto?"

"Mmm?" he questioned sleepily, refusing to open his eyes. The alarm hadn't gone off yet, and he was damned if anybody was stealing any more of his beauty sleep.

Soft lips grazed his cheek; warm breath ghosted over his ear as the voice persisted.

"Are you receiving me, Ianto Jones?"

"Fuck off," Ianto muttered, burying deeper into the pillows.

Somewhere in the vicinity of his ear, a tongue clicked sharply.

"I bloody well hope you don't address the children like that!"

Resigning himself to the fact that sleep was well and truly over, Ianto opened his eyes.

"Believe me, if any of the children woke me by nibbling my earlobe, they'd get something far stronger than 'fuck off'."

He received a chuckle in reply, followed by further nibbling of the aforementioned earlobe.

"I don't know whether to scold you or snog you senseless."

Ianto rolled over, raising an eyebrow, his pale blue eyes gazing up into the equally intense blue depths above him.

"Well considering I already am pretty senseless, it'd better be the former."

His partner chuckled again, leaning down from his position perched on the edge of the bed to ensure that his lips hovered mere millimetres from Ianto's.

"Honestly, Ianto Jones, sometimes you can be so ungrateful it's unbelievable," Jack Harkness began huskily. "I come home at the crack of dawn, get the breakfast, make the coffee, tidy the lounge… and all you can say to me is 'fuck off'."

Ianto grinned, reaching up to capture Jack's lips in a languid kiss.

"And just why would you be tidying the lounge when you could be in bed with me?"

Jack grinned back. "Because I knew that far from welcoming me, you'd tell me to fuck off. I needed some guilt trip material first." His grin widened. "Besides, I just thought it would be helpful, considering how you've overslept."

"Fuck!" All thoughts of languid kisses flew straight out of Ianto's mind as he glanced across at the alarm clock- only to find that it was missing. He groaned. "Fantastic! Need I ask?"

Jack smoothed a finger idly over his partner's cheek, catching his eye as they answered Ianto's question in unison:

"Tosh."

"Honestly, there are times when I could kill that girl," Ianto muttered, swinging his legs out of bed. He could put up with the twelve-year-old requisitioning many household items to ingeniously adapt into something far more clever; but his alarm clock was a step too far.

Jack tutted. "Not so fast, mister! I haven't had a proper good morning yet."

"That would be because in terms of your day, this is evening," Ianto replied tartly; allowing Jack to draw him into a deep and lingering kiss nonetheless. When they finally drew apart, he sighed deeply and buried his head in his partner's neck, breathing in that musky, masculine aroma, slightly overlaid with the acrid scent of smoke, that was so inherently Jack. Jack's answering sigh breezed softly over the top of his head.

"Am I to understand that if you're this exhausted, Tosh has been having nightmares again?" the American asked, his voice the colour of concern.

"And where were you at half-past one when I informed you of that fact?" Ianto muttered under his breath, exhaustion making him irrationally irritated.

Although he didn't quite catch what his partner was murmuring, Jack felt the Welshman's lips move against his neck and caught the gist. Sighing, he pulled away.

"Yan, how many times do we need to go through this? I'm sorry, ok? But it's part of my job."

Ianto sighed back, looking the American in the eye. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I'm just tired, ok?" Diplomatically, he left unsaid the thought that his partner's job was taking precedence over his own _again_.

Jack smiled softly, drawing Ianto in for another lingering kiss before pushing him in the direction of the bathroom.

"Now go- you have approximately sixteen minutes before Gwen polishes off the coffee. I'll get down there and try to save you a cup, but I'm not making any promises."

Smoothing his hand down his partner's cheek, Jack headed for the door. Ianto stared after him, knowing that when he went downstairs in fifteen minutes, Jack would be just pouring him the first cup from a fresh pot of coffee. There were times, he reflected with an involuntary smile, that he really loved Jack Harkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer- I do not have the pleasure of owning Torchwood. If I did, there would be less aliens and more beautiful Welsh vowels. As you can tell by the aliens, the BBC has the honour of owning the show. And also Doctor Who, from whence many of the characters in this fic are also borrowed.**

**Spoilers- Lets say seasons 1 & 2 to be on the safe side**

**Rating- T**

**Synopsis- AU. Jack's working nights, Ianto's getting stressed, and Tosh is having nightmares again. With Gwen and Owen playing up too, can peace reassert itself in the Harkness-Jones household before disaster strikes?**

**General Notes- AU: the aliens only come out at night; and Torchwood is merely the name of a house. Idea came from nowhere; title is stolen from a Delta Goodrem song which may or may not be connected. My first Torchwood fanfic, so please be nice! Constructive criticism is always welcomed. And don't kill me for the wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff *g***

**Chapter Notes- N/A**

-

-

**Chapter 2**

"If you were just one more shade of pale, Ianto, you'd be a ghost," John Smith proclaimed anxiously as he literally ran into the Welshman in the front entrance hall. Holding Ianto's shoulders to steady him from the impact, Smith eyed the dark bags under his friend's eyes with worry.

"You're a doctor of astrophysics, not medicine," Ianto grumbled, pulling away; secretly rather touched by his colleague's concern.

John shrugged. "Ok, so I'll produce an equation to prove you need more sleep, if that's what it'll take for you to rest."

Ianto smiled wryly. "It's not that simple, Doctor."

"So tell me," the Englishman urged, ushering Ianto through the doors and along the corridor to his office.

Ianto sighed, sinking down on the sofa which John insisted on keeping in his office for some bizarre reason. But then again, he was a fairly bizarre man. Dr John Smith, PhD- 'The Doctor' to his friends- was tall and lanky, with spiky yet floppy brown hair and warm brown eyes; eyes which personal tragedy made appear older than his thirty-six years, even though the rest of him looked barely past his twenties. He was a damn good-looking man, in an individual kind of way; and Ianto might well have been interested had he not known that the Doctor was straight. And also for the fact that he had arrived in Cardiff in the company of his girlfriend (now his wife). And also that the man had more energy than anyone Ianto had ever met in his life- being in the same room for too long exhausted the Welshman. Regardless of that, he was the best Acquisitions and Research Manager Ianto had ever had, despite the fact that his PhD was in astrophysics rather than history. Ianto wasn't quite sure how a highly qualified, insanely intelligent English astrophysicist from Oxford had ended up working as the Acquisitions and Research Manager of Cardiff's biggest archive, but the Welshman was eternally glad that he had.

Even if he did drag Ianto into frustrating conversations like this. The Head Archivist sighed again, running a hand through his hair. The Doctor sighed too, narrowing his eyes.

"Now come on, Ianto Jones, tell me what's bothering you. Are things alright with Jack?"

How to answer that question? Ianto nodded automatically. "Yes, things are… fine. It's nothing, John, really."

The Doctor sighed again, somewhat uncharacteristically giving up for the present even as he resolved to speak to Jack as soon as possible.

"Fine, go and work the stress off then," he responded, exasperated. "But don't make the mistake of thinking that this conversation's over."

Ianto treated him to a tired smile as he rose and headed for the door. "Why thank you, Doctor. But don't make the mistake of thinking I don't appreciate your concern when you can't find me to continue this conversation." And with that he was gone.

John sighed again, rubbing his temple. How typically Ianto. The young man had a habit of bottling things up inside to the point of it being detrimental to his health. If something really was bothering him, he'd probably keep it hidden until the shit hit the fan and life exploded in his face. As his friend, John felt justified in his determination not to let it escalate to that point. Particularly as the happiness of both his closest friends rested on whatever the issue was.

Making a snap decision, he reached for the phone and dialled a numbed which he knew by heart.

"Fuck off, Smith, can't you see it's the middle of the night?" impatient American tones snapped down the line, and the Doctor chuckled.

"Oh, so that must explain why I've just seen a ghost."

A mile or so away, Jack Harkness groaned and rolled over in bed. "I'm warning you, John, I'm not in the mood right now. This had better be serious- we had three call-outs last night and I'm fucking exhausted."

Smith could tell- usually Jack kept swear words to a minimum, conscious of the risk of slipping up in front of his kids if he swore regularly (not that he really needed to worry- the kids, had he only known it, knew language that would make a sailor blush.)

"Yeah?" John challenged, swinging his chair around to face the window. "Well so's Ianto, and I'm worried about him. Are things ok between you two?"

He could sense the movement when Jack sat up straight in bed. "Why; has he said anything?"

"No," John conceded, smiling as he knew that Jack had just flopped back against the pillows with a sigh, turning the bedside light on (the room had blackout curtains.)

"As far as I know, we're ok," Jack commented, sounding exhausted. "I mean, Tosh is having nightmares again and it's taking its toll on our sanity; but I wasn't aware that it was damaging our relationship."

John sighed, turning back to the desk again, resting his chin thoughtfully on his hand.

"I wish you'd take her to see a doctor, Jack," he commented, the slight muffling of his voice informing Jack exactly what pose his friend was striking.

"I will," he replied, and John could practically hear his grin down the phone. "When are you free?"

The Doctor tutted. "Jack. You know that's not what I mean."

Jack chuckled. "_I_ mean it though. When _are_ you free? It feels like I haven't seen you in ages."

It was John's turn to chuckle. "One week, two days and ooh… Eleven hours and twenty minutes?"

The American grinned again. "Like I said- ages."

The Doctor smiled. "Coffee, today, say five?"

Jack shrugged. "Sure, sounds good. I can get Gwen to babysit; she always wants the money and I doubt Ianto will emerge from his precious archive any time before six."

Noting the faint hint of bitterness in Jack's voice, John frowned again. "Don't be so hard on him, Jack. If I remember rightly, the two key rules of your household are 'Never call Dad out of work' and 'Never call Dad when he's asleep during the day'."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "The latter of which you may notice you're breaking."

The Doctor chuckled. "Well yes, but then I'm not a member of your household, am I?"

"You think that's going to stop me being pissed off?"

"Grumpy old man."

"Hey, less of the 'old'!" Jack retorted, grinning. "I'm not ready to be thrown on the scrapheap just yet, thank you!"

"Who said anything about the scrapheap?" John murmured innocently, and Jack chuckled.

"You've been spending too much time with me, Doctor."

"Occupational hazard of being your best friend, Jack," the Doctor shot back, grinning.

"Oh, does that mean I should be bouncing around making scientific exclamations about the colour of the sky and eyeing up blondes?"

"Well, you can't deny you fancied her too, Jack."

"Bastard."

The Doctor knew the insult wasn't serious, mainly from the grin in his friend's voice.

"Actually, my parents _were_ married when I was born."

Jack chuckled. "Yeah, yeah; I know they were. But really, there's nothing wrong with being born out of wedlock."

Knowing precisely to whom Jack was referring, John smiled too. "I know, Jack, I know. She's a credit to you; even if she _does_ have a bit of a temper."

His friend laughed. "Ah, but don't forget we have her temper to thank for introducing me to the delicious archivist you'd been hiding from me…"

He would never forget that day. It had started just like any other- and carried on that way, right up until _that_ phone call at ten past twelve…

"Earth calling Jack… Are you receiving me? I repeat: are you receiving me? Come in, Captain Harkness…"

The Doctor's voice cut across Jack's thoughts, dragging him reluctantly back to the present.

"Earth? Where's that?" he quipped, knowing it would draw a smile from his friend.

"Well, if you're going to have delusions as a result of exhaustion…" the Doctor shot back, grinning.

"Oh, don't remind me!" Jack groaned, making John laugh.

"I'll leave you to your beauty sleep then."

"Sure; see you later sweetheart." Jack could almost see the Doctor's eye-roll, despite the distance between them.

"Bye, Jack."

A sharp click followed by the dial tone replaced John's voice, and Jack replaced the receiver on its stand, glancing at the clock to calculate if Gwen would be in a lesson and groaning as his eyes met with nothing and he remembered that Tosh had purloined it. Reaching for his watch instead, he noted to his delight that break time should be just starting. After waiting impatiently for a minute or so to ensure that Gwen would have left her lesson, he grabbed the phone again and dialled his daughter's number from memory.

"Hello?" Her breathless tones never failed to make him smile.

"Gwennie darling, I need you to babysit for me tonight." Jack was not one to beat about the bush.

Her gasp of dismay was audible even down the line. "Aww, but Dad! I had plans with Rhys tonight."

Jack raised an eyebrow, refraining from comment with difficulty- Rhys Williams was a nice enough lad, but nevertheless the American was sure that his daughter could do better.

"And what might those plans be?"

"He's taking me to Costa La Vista after school."

Ah, Costa La Vista. THE place to be seen on an after-school date if you were a teenager. No wonder Gwen was disappointed and just a little mutinous. Jack sighed, calculating how to play it.

"Well, your plans with Rhys have changed," he informed her brusquely, suppressing a chuckle as he felt her pout down the phone. "You come home straight after school and look after Tosh and Owen; and then Rhys can come round about sevenish and you can have pizza. In your room. Just don't tell Ianto."

Hmm, Ianto. He was not going to be best pleased by this. Ianto's belief in the Family Meal was adorable beyond belief, yet at the same time often really rather irritating. But then again, if he could persuade Gwen to feed Tosh and Owen when they got in from school, and moved his coffee appointment to four… Then he'd have enough time to cook Ianto a romantic meal and actually have the chance to spend some time with his partner. Oh yes, that sounded like a plan.

"Really?" Gwen's excitement was palpable. Jack grinned, knowing she could sense it even if she couldn't see it.

"Sure. But there's one condition."

Leaning against her locker, Gwen stiffened. Her father's 'conditions' were not always pleasant.

"What would that be?" she asked cautiously.

"You feed Tosh and Owen," her father answered promptly. "There's chicken nuggets and oven chips in the freezer; and you know where the baked beans are if you want to introduce the merest vestige of healthiness into the meal. You do that, and I'll let you have Ben & Jerry's ice cream for dessert," he bargained, knowing for sure that would sway her. It did.

"Okay, I can do that," she agreed, and he could feel her adorable gap-toothed grin.

"Good girl." There were times that Jack really loved his eldest daughter. "Have a great day at school, sweetheart. I'll see you at ten to four, yeah?"

"Yeah, for about ten seconds!" she teased lightly. "What's the big occasion, anyway?"

"Oh, just coffee with John," Jack replied equally lightly, not wanting to let slip that the pair were meeting for serious conversation rather than the usual witty banter.

"Ah, the lure of a mocha!" Gwen mocked, grinning. Ianto was generally in charge of coffee at home, and they all knew how the Welshman hated 'adulterating' the drink with chocolate. Mochas with the Doctor were her father's guilty pleasure- or one of them, anyway.

Jack grinned back, knowing his daughter could sense the smile.

"Yeah, you know me- just can't resist the combination of chocolate and coffee."

Even as he finished the sentence, the bell for the end of break rang. Gwen swore, drawing a frown from her father.

"Shit, I've gotta go."

She had hung up even before her father could open his mouth to reprimand her for the oath. Sighing, he rolled his eyes, decided that teenagers were teenagers and there was nothing he could do to change that, and dialled another number. The phone was answered immediately.

"Hello, Cardiff Central Archives, Acquisitions and Research Department. How may I help you?"

"Doctor, that coffee? Can we make it four?"

Jack could sense the Doctor roll his eyes even as he grinned.

"Why, Jack, you're practically asking me to leave at lunchtime! Something come up?"

Jack leered. "Well not yet, but I intend it to later."

"Always the same, Harkness, always the same. Have you _no_ shame?"

"Nope, and you know it."

Despite the distance, the Doctor knew exactly what expression was on the American's face at that precise moment.

"Seriously though, what am I supposed to tell Ianto when he sees me sneaking out early?"

"Easy- just tell him you've got a hot date."

"Because that in no way infers that I'm meeting up with you," the Doctor shot back sarcastically, causing Jack to grin. It was- fractionally- true though: if John wasn't straight, there was no way on earth that Jack would ever have had kids. Except by adoption, of course. As it was, the American was more than happy with his current life; but he still enjoyed teasing the Doctor about his university crush on his friend. John humoured him. Best friends since the first week at Oxford, he knew Jack almost better than Jack knew himself.

"So? Can you knock off that bit earlier?" the American demanded impatiently, keen to piece together his day before he tried to get some shut-eye. John shrugged.

"I don't see why not. I take it you got Gwen to babysit then?"

Jack nodded, despite the fact his friend couldn't see the action. "Yep. And I bribed her to feed Tosh and Owen, so I can cook a romantic meal for Ianto and spend some time with him before I have to leave for work."

"Ah, it's all falling into place now…" the Doctor quipped, pushing his thick-framed square glasses further up his nose. "Excellent plan, I commend it. But now… You need your beauty sleep, and I really need to get some work done if I'm going to rush off at half past three."

"I'll text Rose and tell her not to disturb you," Jack joked back, enjoying the snort of indignation he received in response.

"I'll have you know we're completely professional at work, Captain."

"Ooh, now I know I'm in trouble!" Jack teased. Oddly enough, the Doctor only used his friend's nickname when he was formal or annoyed.

The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Goodbye, Jack."

Jack grinned and replaced the phone on its stand, flicking off the light as he did so. As the relative darkness engulfed him, he found himself slipping easily into a deep, welcome sleep.

Coincidentally, a mile or so away Ianto was experiencing exactly the same thing as he rested his head on the desk just for the briefest of moments.

For some strange reason, his subconscious drew him into a vividly realistic dream of the day he had met a certain dashing American.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer- I do not have the pleasure of owning Torchwood. If I did, there would be less aliens and more beautiful Welsh vowels. As you can tell by the aliens, the BBC has the honour of owning the show. And also Doctor Who, from whence many of the characters in this fic are also borrowed.**

**Spoilers- Lets say seasons 1 & 2 to be on the safe side**

**Rating- T**

**Synopsis- AU. Jack's working nights, Ianto's getting stressed, and Tosh is having nightmares again. With Gwen and Owen playing up too, can peace reassert itself in the Harkness-Jones household before disaster strikes?**

**General Notes- AU: the aliens only come out at night; and Torchwood is merely the name of a house. Idea came from nowhere; title is stolen from a Delta Goodrem song which may or may not be connected. My first Torchwood fanfic, so please be nice! Constructive criticism is always welcomed. And don't kill me for the wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff *g***

**Chapter Notes- Any opinions expressed herein by one William Dodd, esquire, are the opinions of the fictional character only and in no way reflect my own opinions. As a matter of fact, I'm with one messy-haired brunette on this. (Intrigued? Read on!) Also, if at any point you find yourself scoffing over minor details, just remember that this is an AU- they do things differently here. Sorry the chapter was delayed, busy weekend. But it's quite a long one, so hopefully that makes up for it. This is our first encounter with wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff: Ianto is dreaming a surprisingly accurate re-run of the day he met Jack (in case that wasn't obvious).**

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**Chapter 3**

Ianto Jones would never forget the day he met Jack Harkness.

Neither, for that matter, would William Dodd. (The day, that is, not the meeting.)

At eight am, it had just seemed like a perfectly ordinary day. Ianto had straightened his tie, rinsed his coffee cup, locked the front door and traipsed over to his Audi, briefcase in hand. The sky had been blue, the birds had been singing; and you never would have guessed it was February. As he drove to work, he ran his mind over the itinerary for the day. He had two school groups, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Inwardly Ianto sighed. He somewhat hated the vestiges of PR clinging to his promotion; and was hoping that once he had done the whirlwind tour and a quick introduction of how the archives worked, he could retreat into his office to do some proper work, leaving the inquisitive schoolchildren to his subordinates. Ah well, even if he couldn't he should have a good hour or so to work before the first group arrived. Smiling at the thought, he turned the Audi neatly into the ornately gated entrance, speeding past the decorative sign reading 'Cardiff Central Archives'.

The first blissful hour of sorting through and cataloguing new acquisitions flew by all too fast; and Ianto found that all too soon he was being dragged out to face fifty-odd disinterested fifteen-year-olds. Uncomfortable under the gaze of so many pairs of eyes, the Welshman hastened through his part of the trip itinerary as fast as he politely could, before beating a hasty retreat to his office, confident that the staff left working on the floor could handle any minor enquiries the children might have.

It was a good plan, in theory. A plan which worked all the way through 'til eleven thirty-eight, at any rate. At that particular moment, one Chin Li happened to remark to a friend that she found it all just a tiny bit boring. Pushing unruly dark hair out of her eyes, the friend opened her mouth to comment that actually she found it all rather interesting. But the comment was whipped from her lips by the voice of a passing employee- the unfortunate William Dodd. Dodd was not known amongst the staff for his tolerance, but even Ianto, who prided himself on knowing his staff, could not have predicted the next words out of the young man's mouth. "Yeah? Well, maybe you'd find your own archives a little more captivating- perhaps we should fly you out there and see?"

The fist that connected with his nose came out of nowhere. The scream the hearty punch drew from him was enough to bring Ianto running from the sanctuary of his office.

"Alright, alright, what's going on?"

Dodd's eyes flashed fire. "She hit me!"

His blue eyes met a pair of equally furious brown ones. "Yeah? Well maybe you should think before opening your racist trap then!"

Ianto pieced together the situation in a second, Dodd's mutinous look, the words of the wild-haired brunette and the crying Asian girl beside her all adding up to make an uncomfortable picture. Inwardly cursing his newest employee, Ianto took charge of the situation immediately.

"Mr Dodd, you can wait for me in the staff room. You will not leave the room until further notice." Ignoring the flash of anger in Dodd's eyes, he continued firmly. "You, miss, can come with me," he addressed the dark-haired girl with the bloody fist. "The rest of you can disperse, and carry on with what you came here for. Nothing to see here, back to work!"

None of Ianto's employees would ever dare to disobey when he used _that_ tone of voice, and it seemed the children sensed the danger of it too; for within seconds the path to his office was clear again and Dodd was beating a hasty retreat. Trying his best not to look too weary, Ianto turned on his heel and headed back to his office, glancing over his shoulder at the door to note that the brunette, now much subdued, had followed his instructions to the letter, and was right behind him. So too was the teacher in charge of the school party. Ianto suppressed an inward sigh with difficulty as he pushed open the door and ushered the girl inside before turning to face the mistress, putting on his most reassuring face.

"It's all right, ma'am, I can handle this. If you could just keep an eye on the rest of the children?"

The Welshman's tones brooked no disagreement, and the young teacher found her protests, questions and apologies dying on her lips. Wordlessly she turned on her heel and headed back to the rest of her flock.

Allowing himself a tiny smile at the victory, Ianto entered the office himself. The girl was standing on one leg, rubbing her calf nervously with the opposite foot; and instinctively Ianto could tell she was not used to getting into trouble. Evidently, then, whatever remark Dodd had made had been a step too far. Ianto allowed himself a half-stern, half-reassuring smile as he gestured to the chair opposite the desk.

"Take a seat."

The girl complied, folding her hands nervously in her lap.

"Ok, let's start with the basics," Ianto began in a business-like tone. "Name?"

"Gwen," she replied quietly, expanding on this when he raised an eyebrow to suggest that a first name was not enough. "Gwen Cooper-Harkness."

"Ok, Gwen, I need you to tell me exactly what happened out there."

Fire flashed in Gwen's eyes. "I was just getting the next roll of microfilm with my friend Chin, and she said that she wasn't particularly enthralled by the archives," she began, the fire fading and being replaced by the urge to laugh as she noticed Ianto's complete incomprehension that anyone could voice such a thought. Suppressing the urge with difficulty, she continued. "I was about to say that actually I found it rather interesting," (here Ianto's face brightened) "but before I could speak your… _employee_ suggested that Chin might find 'her own' archives more interesting, and that we should 'fly her out' to see." The fire was back in Gwen's dark eyes again as she filled in the background detail. "Chin might be adopted, Mr…" (quickly she scanned Ianto's name badge) "Jones, but she's lived her whole life in Cardiff, and she's as Welsh as you or me."

Gwen Cooper-Harkness certainly sounded Welsh enough, matching Ianto's own accent vowel for vowel; though he was later to discover that her claims were only geographically true. But anyway.

Ianto frowned a moment, considering the situation. On the one hand, Miss Cooper-Harkness certainly seemed to have just aggravation. On the other hand…

"You broke his nose," Ianto pointed out, perhaps unnecessarily. Gwen flushed.

"I know, and I'm sorry," she muttered, looking at the floor. "But I couldn't help myself. My sister's adopted, see; so I kind of get angry whenever anyone makes racist comments about people who really don't deserve it."

Ianto could see her point, but at the end of the day he could not ignore the severity of the action.

"Apology accepted," he began slowly, earning himself a gap-toothed smile as he held his hand up to stop any reply she might have made. "I don't think there's any reason for any legal action to be taken, given the circumstances. I can talk Dodd out of any law suit he may feel inclined to start- but I didn't tell you that," he added quickly, receiving another grin. He raised an eyebrow in response, before turning serious again.

"Whatever punishment your school decides to impose is up to them; but I don't see how this event should spoil the trip for anyone else, so I'll just keep you here in solitary confinement until it's time for your departure."

Gwen looked both relieved and apprehensive at the same time, if such a thing were possible. Ianto suppressed a smile and carried on with his verdict.

"All the same, I am going to have to call your parents, I'm afraid."

The brown eyes locked onto his, pleading. "No, you can't call my Dad. Please. Not now. You can't!"

Somehow, the suggestion had driven the child from nervous to frantic in the space of a second. Ianto frowned.

"Alright, what about your mother?"

The expressive brown eyes dropped to the desk again.

"My mother's dead," Gwen mumbled.

"I'm sorry." Ianto's apology was swift and sincere. "How about a step-parent?"

Gwen shook her head.

"In that case, Miss Cooper-Harkness, I'm going to have to ring your father."

"Not now!" Gwen pleaded desperately. "Please not now. Just wait 'til three o'clock, please. But don't call him before then. Don't call him at work, please! I'm begging you!"

Ianto's heart went out to the girl, though he couldn't help wondering at her desperation. If the thought of calling her father in the middle of a working day put that much fear into her, then either the man was a tyrant or he did a very important job. Ianto was intrigued.

"I'm sorry, Gwen, but I have to," he responded softly, laying a consoling hand on the girl's shoulder. She shrugged it off angrily, looking betrayed. Ianto felt more than a little sorry for her, but company policy dictated that he had to call her parent immediately in this circumstance, and Ianto Jones was not one to openly flout company policy.

"Look, stay here and calm down," he ordered, heading for the door. "I'll just go and have a word with your teacher."

Mary White could not suppress the stab of relief that shot through her as the door to _that _office opened, and the man who was evidently the boss of the facility headed in her direction. Finally she was to have a say in the course of the day's events. Having heard the whole story from a tearful Chin, she could not help but conclude that perhaps Gwen had been justified in her actions; although she was still appalled that any pupil of hers could behave so at any time, least of all in public.

"Mr Jones," she greeted the archivist as he headed towards her. "What can I do for you?"

She did not complain as the Welshman took her elbow and gently guided her out of the earshot of the children. Truth be told, she would have willingly followed this man anywhere. He did look good in a suit.

Once safely away from the pupils, Ianto regarded Miss White sombrely.

"I shall leave Gwen's punishment up to the school, Miss White- I think I can persuade my colleague not to sue."

Mary breathed a sigh of relief which was cut quickly short when she saw the look on Ianto's face.

"However, I do need to call Gwen's father and keep her here until he arrives, to discus the matter with them both," Ianto continued, and Mary nodded. That seemed to make sense.

"As I assume Gwen will at the very least receive a suspension, I doubt it will matter much if she arrives back at the school later than the rest of the pupils," Ianto's voice refused to be halted by his companion's gesture. "The rest of the school party can stay out the rest of the visit as planned, I see no reason to disrupt it further. All the staff here are CRB checked, so legally it should not be too much of a problem to leave Gwen here for the present."

Mary nodded again, a little more nervously this time. She was not quite sure how the headmistress would react once she learned that a member of her staff had willingly left a pupil behind on a school trip. Ianto smiled at her reassuringly.

"Any problems, just refer them to me," he suggested confidently, earning himself a grateful smile before he frowned a little in concern.

"There is only one thing which worries me, Miss White," he confessed. "Gwen seems very adverse to the idea of me calling her father out of work- why is that, do you know?"

Mary looked perplexed. "I haven't the faintest idea," she confessed in her turn. "Gwen's a good girl, you know? Bit of a hot temper sometimes, but never really been in trouble before- not so deeply that we've had to contact her parents. She has a heart of gold that sometimes leads her into hot water, but she's never put a toe more than a millimetre or so out of line before."

"Hmm," Ianto considered the answer carefully, before treating Mary to a smile. "Well then, it seems like everything is settled. You'll take the rest of the children home at twelve thirty as planned, and I'll keep Gwen with me until her father arrives. Incidentally- I will need his number; I'm sure you have it."

"Oh! Yes, I do." Slightly flustered by the effects of the smile, Mary hastily tugged the folder of consent forms from her bag and rifled through until she found Gwen's.

"There you go, her father's number will be on there."

"Thank you." Taking a notepad and pen from his jacket pocket, Ianto scribbled down the number and handed back the consent form, shooting Mary one last reassuring smile before heading for the staffroom.

Two heads looked up quickly at the intrusion, one brunette, one blonde. Ianto smiled at the blonde.

"Rose, could you make a phone call for me? I know it's your lunch break, but this won't take a minute. I need to speak to this man urgently regarding the behaviour of his daughter- will you impress upon him the need to drop by as soon as possible?"

Putting her lunch aside with a cleverly concealed sigh, Rose Tyler nodded her consent, reaching for the number.

"Hey, a name would be nice!" she teased, glancing at the scribbled figures. Ianto flushed slightly- it hadn't even occurred to him to ask Gwen her father's name.

"Well, it's a mobile number," he reasoned with his secretary. "Bound to have only one owner. And his daughter's name is Gwen Cooper-Harkness, so I'm guessing the surname will be along the same lines, if you want to cross-reference it with the name the owner of the number gives when answering the call." As caught up as he was in the turmoil of the day, for once Ianto Jones did not register the expression of surprise on his secretary's face.

"I think there was some sense in there somewhere," the pretty blonde teased as she headed out of the room, hastening her exit as she caught the look on her boss' face.

Having dealt all he could with the aggressor for the moment, Ianto now turned his attention to the aggravator.

"So tell me what happened out there, Bill," he ordered, his tones stern; and Dodd scowled.

"This Asian girl said she was bored, yeah; so I just suggested that she might find her own country's archives more interesting. It was an innocent comment, boss; but then that little bitch just jumped on me!"

Ianto raised an eyebrow at his employee, trusting Gwen's account far enough to know that Bill Dodd was only telling half the story.

"Oh, I think our young friend may have been able to hold her temper if that were all you said," Ianto suggested mildly. "I'm guessing it was your suggestion of deporting her peer that didn't go down so well."

Dodd scowled again. "Innocent suggestion, boss!" he protested again vehemently, and Ianto sighed.

"I know you love your job, Bill; but there are times you take your passion for it just a bit too far. You know I can't have my staff going round insulting visitors left, right and centre-"

Dodd looked rebellious, and Ianto held up his hand to cut off any protest.

"Oh, you might not have meant to cause any offense; but if offence was taken then clearly we need to watch what you say around visitors. And to tell the truth, Bill, I might have hit you for that remark myself." Ianto's cold blue eyes flashed fire and ice, much as Gwen's darker ones had earlier. "I will **not** have my staff making racist remarks, whether in the presence of guests or not. It simply is not acceptable."

Sensing his beloved job slipping away from between his fingertips, Dodd's rebellious look was fast turning to desperation. Taking pity on the man, Ianto returned a speedy verdict.

"Oh, I'm not going to sack you, Bill- this time. But you understand that I do have to take disciplinary action against you. So you are suspended without pay for one week, starting now. You can start by taking yourself along to the doctor's to get that nose checked out, and after that you can spend the rest of the week contemplating how you can alter your attitude so that this does not happen again. Because I'm not a man to give third chances, Mr Dodd- you screw up like this again, and you are fired. Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly, Sir." Even the orders of how to spend the week in suspension could not keep the relieved smile from Dodd's face at the thought that he got to keep his job. Ianto decided it was time to wipe the smirk off the employee's face. Heading for the door, he turned around as he reached it and added, apparently as an afterthought:

"Oh yes, I nearly forgot to mention. You won't be pressing charges against our young friend- or you will be on the dole faster than you can say 'innocent remark'." Ianto's voice had taken on _that_ tone again, and Dodd had no choice but to sulkily agree, knowing that his boss meant every word he said.

Having now dealt with both 'culprits' in the matter, Ianto crossed the floor of the research area on the way back to his office, noting the silence with satisfaction- the school group had headed home. (Or back to school, at any rate.)

Upon re-entering his office, Ianto was surprised to find Gwen not sat still staring at the desk as he had expected, but on her feet and moving around, examining the photocopied documents on Cardiff's history which adorned the walls. Ianto felt a rush of warmth towards the child- evidently she hadn't been lying when she said she was interested by the archives. The Welshman was about to join her in her perusal of the documents when the phone on his desk rang. Suppressing a long-suffering sigh with difficulty, he picked up the receiver and tried not to snap into it.

"Jones."

"Ianto, I made that phone call for you," Rose's dulcet tones drifted down the line. "The man was far from happy, but he said he'll be here asap."

Ianto smiled, a half-smile which, had he only known it, made him look really rather hot. The fact was not lost on Gwen, who turned back to the article she was reading with a secret smile. Perhaps calling her father out of work wouldn't be so disastrous after all.

Unaware of the thoughts going through his companion's head, Ianto concentrated on his phone call.

"Great, thanks Rose. Show him into my office when he gets here, would you?"

"Yeah, sure."

Ianto heard the click of the other receiver being placed down, and he echoed the action now before turning his attention back to Gwen.

"Your father's on his way, he'll be here soon," the Welshman announced, his heart stung by the sudden sag of her shoulders and the defeated way in which she took a seat opposite Ianto once more.

"Why is it so bad that we called him out of work, Gwen?" Ianto asked gently, but before the girl could reply the door opened suddenly and an irate whirlwind swept into the room.

"Damn it, Gwen, I was working!" A rich American accent berated the girl with exasperation, startling Ianto. Whatever he had expected of Gwen's father, it certainly wasn't this. But the man didn't _seem_ like a tyrannical father; which made it much easier for Ianto to be civil.

"I'm guessing from that statement that your job is considerably more important than mine," he began pleasantly, rising to his feet and extending his hand. "Ianto Jones, Head Archivist. Thank you for coming so promptly."

A pair of startlingly blue eyes locked onto Ianto's, momentarily taking his breath away, especially when accompanied by that dazzling grin.

"Pleasure to meet you, Ianto Jones. Captain Jack Harkness, Cardiff Fire Service, Bay Sector."

As Jack gripped his hand in a firm handshake, Ianto felt more than a little dizzy. 'God damn it, Jones!' he berated himself crossly. 'The man's a father, he's gotta be straight!'

"He likes you," Gwen's voice piped up out of nowhere, drawing the two men's eyes reluctantly apart. "He only misuses his job title when he's trying to impress."

'Hmm, maybe not…' A considerable part of Ianto's subconscious leapt hopefully.

Jack was slightly less impressed with his daughter's untimely interruption.

"Hush, you," he glared at her, causing her to subside immediately. "You just keep quiet whilst Ianto fills me in on why the hell I'm here when I should be working." Jack Harkness might be a very easy-going parent on the whole; but the number one rule of the household was that Dad must never be called at work, except in a dire emergency, like the house catching fire (in which case, he was most definitely the one to call, he always quipped, though the smile never reached his eyes with that joke.) Gwen had blown it big time today, and she knew she was in deep trouble.

"Sorry, Dad," she muttered, subdued, doing her best to fade into the background whilst her father grilled the archivist about his daughters antics.

"So tell me, Ianto Jones, why am I here?"

Trying not to think about what that delicious American accent was doing to him, Ianto quickly tried and failed to think of a good way to break the news to the handsome man in front of him. Realising that there wasn't really a tactful way to start such a conversation, and that the American would probably appreciate it if he didn't waste any more of his time, Ianto decided to leap straight in there with the truth. It was about the only viable option, anyway- the intense gaze of those brilliantly blue eyes was rendering constructing a sentence remarkably difficult.

"Well, um, you see, the thing is… Your daughter broke the nose of one of my employees."

Whatever Jack had been expecting to hear, it evidently was not this, judging from the way he took a step backwards in surprise.

"She… what?" he questioned, his tones more than a little incredulous.

"She broke the nose of one of my employees," Ianto repeated, far more calmly than he felt.

"But why on earth would she do that?" The American seemed genuinely mystified. "Gwen wouldn't do a think like that deliberately. Was there some sort of an accident?"

Ianto smiled wryly. "You could say that."

The American raised an eyebrow in question, and Ianto fought to stay composed in the face of the unintentionally sexy gesture.

"The employee in question made a somewhat racist remark about one of the pupils here this morning, and your daughter happened to be standing nearby," Ianto explained. His heart went out to the girl as he observed the look of shock and anger which flared quickly across her father's face, just for an instant, before those handsome features regained their usual composed and cheeky look.

"Don't worry, I've persuaded the employee not to press charges," the archivist added quickly, hoping to spare Gwen at least some pain from the tongue-lashing she was evidently about to receive.

The American smiled at him gratefully, before glancing at his watch. "Well, that all seems to have worked out rather well then- I can take Gwen back to school on my way back to the station and still make the last couple of hours of my shift."

As if sensing the protest rising on Ianto's lips, his visitor continued quickly even as he hustled his daughter in the direction of the door.

"Mr Jones, thank you for your help, and I'm sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you. Sorry to run out on you like this too; but I'm sure you'll appreciate that mine is not a job one can leave mid-shift lightly."

"No, I don't believe it is," the Welshman muttered, summoning his best PR smile to his face as he tried to quell his protests. The charming smile he received in return almost dazzled him to the point of losing coherent thought.

"I do still have some questions, though, so here's my number. Just give me a call, any time, to fix up when it would be convenient to meet to discus things further- Ianto."

And with that he was gone. Ianto ran his thumb over the small white card which had been pushed into his hand in a daze, powerless to stop the whirlwind from leaving his office. Come to think of it, he couldn't really think of anything else that needed to be talked through regarding the matter. Which meant… this wasn't an invitation for a _date_- was it?


End file.
